Method of and apparatus for marking shoe uppers



METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR MARKING SHOE UPPERS Filed April 16, 1934 /1o Z j.,

Patented Jan. 14, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE METHOD OF ANDAPPARATUS FOR MARKING SHOE UPPERS Application April 16, 1934, Serial No.720,690

10 Claims.

This invention relates to a method of and apparatus for marking shoeupper sections and similar pieces or blanks of sheet material.

In the manufacture of shoes, particularly wornens shoes, it is customaryto apply ornamental designs to the shoe uppers as by stitching. Theornamental designs are usually applied to the cut-out sections of theuppers before they are assembled and in the case of stitching, thedesigns are rst marked on the upper sections, such as the quarters orVamps, and the markings are then followed in the stitching operation.For marking the design on a shoe upper section or similar blank anembossing plate is commonly used, the desired design being formed bybosses or projections arranged in rows or groups to delineate thedesign. By placing the embossing plate, the blank to be marked, and apigmented transfer sheet in superposed relation and subjecting them topressure, the design corresponding to the arrangement of projections onthe embossing plate is transferred to the blank. An example of thismethod of marking and of apparatus for performing it is described in theEdwards Patent No. 1,639,332, dated August 16, 1927.

In transferring designs or markings ln acco-rdance with such procedures,considerable difficulty has been encountered in providing a fine,distinct and readily removable marking on the blank or shoe uppersection. For example, in cases where the marking consists of convergingrows of dots and/or dashes which delineate the design and serves as aguide for the stitching operation, one of two objectionable conditionsusually eX- ists, viz., either the markings are so blurred and heavy asnot to afford an accurate guide for the precise location of thestitching or line of cut, or the markings are so light and indistinct asto be incapable of providing a reliable guide for the operator. Numerousattempts have been made to overcome these objectionable features, as byproviding a pad or the like piece of sheet material beneath the transfersheet so as to afford a certain amount of resiliency, but in all suchcases the marking applied to the material has been either indistinct byreason of failure to apply sumcient pressure to overcome the resiliencyof the pad, or blurred, oversized, and diiicult to remove whensufficient pressure has been applied to cause a transfer of the marking.The use of stops to limit the travel of the press-head or platen againstthe bed plate has been proposed, but due to the variation in thicknessof the average run of material to be marked, it has (Cl. 10i-297) beenfound impossible to adjust such stops so as to produce a satisfactorymark.

The principal object of the present invention is to overcome theaforementioned deficiencies inherent in the prior practices and toprovide an improved, eflicient and reliable method and apparatus forapplying a fine, distinct and readily removable marking to blanks.

I have found that a satisfactory mark having all of the aforementioneddesirable characteristics can be produced without interfering in any Waywith the speed of operation or the efliciency of the marking machine, byinterposing a thin, smooth sheet of paper or the like piece ofsubstantally non-yielding sheet material between the carbon or transfersheet and the bed plate. I believe that the improved results may beattributed to the probability, if not the fact, that the thin, smoothpiece of sheet material underlying the transfer sheet provides, ineffect, a slip plate or substantially frictionless supporting surfacewhich permits a slight relative movement or slip between the superposedtransfer sheet, the material to be marked and the marking plate, on theone hand, and the bed plate which supports these elements, on the otherhand, the relative movement or slip occurring during the brief intervalat which the pressure is being applied to these elements and in allprobability resulting from the effect of horizontal components of forceacting either on the bed plate or platen, which components of force maybe attributable to a slight vibratory movement of the bed plate relativeto the platen, or vice versa. However, the results are clear anddefinite beyond possibility of error and accordingly I do not intend toconfine my invention to the foregoing explanation.

In the accompanying drawing:

Fig. l is a side elevation, partly in section, of a marking machineembodying the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a section on the line 2--2 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 3 is a greatly enlarged diagrammatic sectional view illustratingthe manner in which the marking operation is carried out.

The embodiment chosen for the purpose of illustration comprises a base Ihaving a centrally disposed tubular column il projecting from its upperface and providing a socket I2. A work bed l5 is mounted on the base and.is yieldingly supported by coil springs I6 adjacent to each of its fourcorners. fiat rectangular plate of metal provided with a The work bed ispreferably a smooth top surface. Each spring is seated on a nut l1adjustably mounted on a vertically projectng threaded stem I8 carried bythe base I0. A lock nut I9 may be provided to hold the supporting nutI'I in adjusted position. The work bed is provided witha centrallydisposed depending boss 20 which loosely ts into the socket I2 andserves to limit both the downward and lateral movements of the workbedrelative to the base. The boss 20 is preferably hemispherical in formso as to permit the work bed to rock about an axis through the center ofthe base, there being preferably a slight clearance between the sides ofthe boss and the walls of the column to permit a universal tippingmovement.

Attached to the front edge of the work bed I5 is a bar 22 which extendsbeyond each end of the bed, as shown in Fig. 2, so as to providebrackets or projections 23, each of which may be provided on its topside with an obliquely disposed slot. Secured to the rear edge of theWork bed are bracket arms 24 projecting beyond each end of the work bedand corresponding to the brackets 23 on vthe front edge of the work bed..Each of the bracket arms 24 is provided with a circular opening whichis aligned with the bottom of the slot in the corresponding bracket atthe front of the Work bed. spindles 2l land 28 are'mounted in theopenings and slots of the bracket 23 and arms 24, as shown in Fig. 2,and each spindle is provided at its front end with a hand 'wheel 29 bymeans of which the spindle may :be manually rotated. Each spindle is.also provided with a longitudinally vextending slot between its ends,through which the ends of atransfer sheet 3i) and a slip sheet 3! may beinserted.

The transfer sheet .30 may be of any suitable thin sheet material, suchas paper, impregnated or coated with a pigment of a color whichpreferably contrasts with the color of the leather or other Ablank 32which is to be marked. Each end of the transfer sheet and slip vsheet issecured to one of the spindles and upon rotating one or the other, thetransfer sheet and slip paper will be wound up into a roll as indicated.at 35.

The slip sheet '3l is preferably of thin paper having a smoothcalendered surface and its width and thickness preferably correspondapproximately to the width and thickness of the transfer sheet.Satisfactory results have been obtained by using a transfer sheet havingla thickness .of approximately 0.0025 inch and a slip sheet having athickness of approximately 0.0029 inch. Both the vtransfer sheet and theslip sheet extend across the top of the -vvorklbed from'one roll 'to theother, the pigmented surface of the transfer sheet facing upwardly andthe slip sheet being disposed lbetween the top of the work bed andthetransfer sheet, thus providing a smooth, substantially frictionless,non-yielding supporting surface or slip plate for the transfer sheetduring the marking operation.

Either spindle 2l or 28 may be manually rotated :and adjusted from timeto time by the operator during the continued use of the machine to shiftthe transfer sheet and slip paper back and forth across vthe work bedand thus present fresh areas of the pigmented surfaces to the work asrequired.

Bolted to the top of the base I are two upwardly and rearwardlyextending lbracket arms 4.0 which support a horizontal pivot or pintle4I the axis of which is parallel to and in approximately the samehorizontal Aplane as the top of v the work bed I5. A platen 43 ispivotally mounted on the pintle 4I and comprises a body portionconforming in size and shape to the work bed I and a flat under surfaceto cooperate with 'the top surface of the work bed I5. Secured to theunder surface of the 'platen is a layer 44 of slightly resilient rubberor other suitable cushioning material. Attached to the top of the bodyportion of the platen are a pair of upwardly and forwardly curvedbracket arms 45, the forward ends of which support a handle (not shown)The platen is normally and yieldingly held in elevated or open positionby means of a coil spring 50, one end of which is anchored to the columnI I on the base and the other end of which is attached to an eye-bolt 53carried by a bracket 54. The eye-bolt 53 is provided with a stop nut 55,the adjustment Vof which regulates the tension of the spring 50 and thestop nut 55 may be secured in its adjusted position by means of a wingnut 56. The bracket 5t is attached to the lower link 58 of a pair oftoggle links 5t, 59. The lower toggle link 58 is pivoted at 50 to abracket 0I .rigidly fastened to the base i0 and the upper end of theupper toggle link 59 is pivotally connected at 53 to a bracket 54secured to the platen 43. The spring '5Fl is under suihcient tensionnormally to support the platen in open position as shown in Fig. 2 andwhen the platen is swung downwardly the toggle links 58, 59 are buckledoutwardly away from the base to stretch the spring `50 so that it willautomatically return the platen to its normal elevated position when theoperator releases it after each marking operation.

In operation the shoe upper section or other blank 32 to be marked (Fig.3) is laid on the transfer sheet with the grain side of the leather, orthe finished sidev of the blank which it is desired to mark, in Contactwith the transfer sheet. The embossing or marking plate l0, which ispreferably of the same size and shape as the blank to be marked, is laidon the blank with the embossing projections 'II agains the surfaceof theblank. It will be understood that the embossing plate may be of usualconstruction in which the marking projections are arranged to delineatethe design which is to be transferred or applied to the blank, and thatsuitable guide or gaugemeans may be used, if desired, to assist inApositioning the blank and the embossing plate in precise registry Ywitheach' other. When thus assembled, the blank 32 is firmly held betweenthe embossing plate Til and the transfer sheet 30, there being little orno chance of relative slippage occurring between these elements due tothe fact that the projections 'II of the marking plate securely hold theunderlying blank against relative movement and the pigmented surface ofthe transfer sheet being in contact with the blank provides a firmengagement therewith. Hence, these elements are vfirmly held togetherand constitute, in effect, an integrated unit.

After having positioned the blank and marking plate on the transfersheet, in the manner previouslydescribed, the operator swings the platen43 downwardly so as `forcibly' to strike the top side of the markingplate 10, thereby forcing its projections 'il into the blank and at thesame time causing a slight transverse movement or lateral displacementof the marking plate, blank and transfer sheet, as a unit, relative tothe Work bed I5 (indicated by the arrows in Fig. 3) due to thehorizontal component of force acting on these members, which componentof .force becomes more effective when the work bed is yieldinglysupported for a universal tipping movement.

The simultaneous application of pressure to and the relative movement orslip between the work bed l 5 and the marking plate, blank and transfersheet effects the transfer of the design delineated by the embossingprojection ll to the surface of the leather or blank 32, the individualmarkings being nne and yet distinct and readily removable, thusaffording an accurate guide for the operator during the stitching orcutting operation.

In marking a blank in accordance with the present invention thenecessity of using a great amount of force or pressure in order toinsure a complete transfer of the markings to the blank is avoided as itis merely necessary to use a moderate pressure in order to apply a ne,distinct marking to the blank, due to the fact that the application ofthe marking to the blank is not primarily dependent upon the pressureapplied, but rather upon the conjoint action of the p-ressure and slipor creep between the supporting plate on the one hand and the transfersheet, blank and marking plate on the other hand, resulting from theinterposed slip sheet.

While I have shown and described one desirable embodiment suitable forcarrying' out the present invention, it is to be understood that thepresent disclosure is for the purpose of illustration .and that variouschanges of shape, proportion and arrangement of parts, as well as thesubstitution of equivalent elements for those herein shown anddescribed, may be made without departing from the spirit and scope ofthe invention as set forth in the appended claims.

I claim:

l. The method of marking blanks for shoe uppers and the like by means ofa pigmented transfer sheet and a marking plate having markingprojections thereon delineating the design to be applied to the blank,which comprises interposing the blank between the marking plate and thetransfer sheet so that the surface to be marked is in contact with thepigmented surface of the transfer sheet and the opposite surface is incontact with the marking projections on the marking plate, disposing aslip plate beneath the transfer sheet, applying pressure to theassemblage by means of opposed pressure members, and during theapplication of pressure causing a slight lateral movement between theassembled marking plate, blank and transfer sheet on the one hand andthe pressure member and slip plate adjacent to the transfer sheet on theother hand.

2. The method of marking blanks for shoe uppers and the like by means of.a pigmented transfer sheet and a marking plate having markingprojections thereon delineating the design to be applied to the blank,which comprises interposing the blank between the marking plate and thetransfer sheet so that the surface to be marked is in contact with thepigmented surface of the transfer sheet and the opposite surface is incontact with the marking projections on the marking plate, disposing aslip plate beneath the transfer sheet, inserting the assembled markingplate, blank and transfer sheet between cooperating pressure membersintocooperative relation so as to press the assembled marking plate, blank,transfer sheet and slip plate and simultaneously effect a slighttransverse movement between the pressure member and juxtaposed slipplate on the one hand and the assembled marking plate, blank andtransfer sheet on the other hand.

3. The method of marking blanks for shoe uppers and the like by means ofa pigmented transfer sheet and a marking plate having markingprojections thereon delineating the design to be applied to the blank,which comprises interposing the blank between the marking plate and thetransfer sheet so that the surface to be marked is in contact with thepigmented surface of the transfer sheet and the opposite surface is incontact with the marking projections on the marking plate, disposing aslip plate beneath the transfer sheet, inserting the assembled markingplate, blank and transfer sheet between cooperating pressure members,one of which is mounted for universal tipping movement so that the slipplate is juxtaposed to the pressure member mounted for universal tippingmovement, and bringing said pressure members into cooperative relationso as to apply pressure to the assembled marking plate, blank, transfersheet and slip plate and simultaneously eff-ect a slight transversemovement between the last mentioned pressure member and slip plate onthe one hand and the assembled marking plate, blank and transfer sheeton the other hand.

4. The method of marking blanks for shoe upf2.

pers and the like by means of a pigmented transfer sheet and a markingplate having marking projections thereon delineating the design to beapplied to the blank, which comprises interposing the blank between themarking plate and the transfer sheet so that the surface to be marked isin contact with the pigmented surface .of the transfer sheet and theopposite surface is in con tact with the marking projections on themarking plate, inserting the assembled marking plate,

blank and transfer sheet between cooperating pressure members,interposing a thin, smooth and non-resilient piece of sheet materialbetween the transfer sheet and the adjacent pressure member, andbringing said members into cooperative relation so as to press theassembled marking plate, blank and transfer sheet and cause a slippageo'f the assembled marking plate, blank and transfer sheet relative tolthe pressure member adjacent to the transfer sheet.

5. The method of marking blanks for shoe uppers and the like by means ofa pigmented transfer sheet and a marking plate having markingprojections thereon delineating the design to be applied to the blank,which comprises interposing the blank between the marking plate and thetransfer sheet so that the surface to be marked is in contact with thepigmented surface of the transfer sheet and the opposite surface is incontact with the marking projections on the marking plate, inserting theassembled marking plate, blank and transfer sheet between cooperatingpressure members, interposing a thin, smooth and non-resilient sheet ofpaper between the transfer sheet and the adjacent pressure member, andbringing said members into cooperative relation so as to press theassembled marking plate, blank and transfer sheet and cause a slippageof the assembled marking plate, blank and transfer sheet relative to thepressure member adjacent to the transfer sheet.

6. The method of marking blanks for shoe uppers and the like by means ofa pigmented transfer sheet and a marking plate having markingprojections thereon delineating the design to be applied to the blank,which comprises interposing the blank between the marking plate and thetransfer sheet so that the surface to be marked is in contact with thepigmented surface of the transfer sheet and the opposite surface is incontact with the marking projections on the marking plate, inserting theassembled marking plate, blank and transfer sheet between cooperatingpressure members, one of which is mounted for universal tipping movementso that the transfer sheet is juxtaposed to the latter pressure member,interposing a thin, smooth sheet of paper between the transfer sheet andthe last mentioned pressure member, and bringing said pressure membersinto cooperative relation topress the assembled marking plate, blank andtransfer sheet and simultaneously cause a slippage of the assembledmarking plate, blank and transfer sheet relative to one of said pressuremembers.

7. Marking apparatus comprising relatively movable cooperating pressuremembers, one of said members having means for holding a transfer sheeton its surface and being adapted to support an embossing plate and ablank to be marked, and means on the surface of said last mentionedpressure member adapted to be interposed between the transfer sheet andthe underlying pressure member to provide a smooth and non-yieldingslipping surface engageable with the under surface of said transfersheet, said means being operative to effect a relative slippage betweensaid transfer sheet, embossing plate and blank on the one hand, and oneof said pressure members on the other hand.

8. Marking apparatus comprising a work bed adapted to support anembossing plate and a blank to be marked, means for retaining a transfersheet on the surface of said work bed, means interposed between saidwork bed and transfer sheet providing a smooth, relatively frictionlessand non-yielding slipping 'surface engageable with the under surfaceofsaid transfer sheet, and

a platen supported for movement toward and away from said bed plate,said last-mentioned means being operative to effect a relative slippagebetween said transfer sheet, embossing plate 5 and blank on the onehand, and said work bed on the other hand, when said platen is broughtinto marking position.

9. Marking apparatus comprising a base, a work bed yieldingly supportedon said base, a thin, smooth and unyielding piece of sheet material onsaid work bed providing a slip plate, means for holding a transfer sheetin superposed relation to said sheet material, and a platen mounted formovement toward and away from said work bed, said sheet material beingoperative to effect a relative movement between said transfer sheet anda. blank and marking plate disposed thereon on the one hand, and saidwork bed on the other hand, when said platen is brought into markingposition.

10. Marking apparatus comprising a base, a. work bed yieldinglysupported on the base and supported so as to rook with relation to' thebase,

a thin, smooth and non-yielding piece of sheet material disposed on saidWork bed and providing a slip plate, and a platen pivotally mounted onsaid base to move downwardly into marking relation to the rocking workbed and upwardly away therefrom, said material being operative to effecta relative slippage between said transfer sheet and a blank and markingplate disposed thereon on the one hand, and said work bed on the otherhand, when said platen is moved downwardly into marking position.

CHARLES F. EATON.

